MBL AD Summit 2008

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Jointly sponsored by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and MBL Communications

7.25 CME AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ Available

CME Course Director
Eric Hollander, MD
Chair and Professor of Psychiatry
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Acknowledgment of Commercial Support
This activity is supported in part by educational grants from:

Alzheimer’s disease is expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades as a consequence of global aging. In response to the growing public health need for recognition and optimal treatment of dementia and cognitive impairment associated with AD, leading experts in the field established the Alzheimer’s Disease Summit (ADS). The inaugural convocation of the ADS, themed Translating Research Advances Into Clinical Practice, was held on May 3, 2008, in Washington, DC.

The ADS provided a comprehensive update of cutting-edge research and addressed application of knowledge to day-to-day practice. Led by co-chairs Jeffrey L. Cummings, MD, of the University of California at Los Angeles, and Pierre N. Tariot, MD, of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, a team of 13 internationally recognized experts in the field presented to an audience of geriatric psychiatrists, neurologists, geriatricians, and primary care physicians. Key topics were grouped into four educational sessions: Advances in Clinical Assessment; Advances in Neuroimaging and Biomarkers; Current AD Therapy; and The Future of AD Therapeutics. In a concluding panel discussion, guest panelist Russell Katz, MD, Director of Neurology Products at the Food and Drug Administration, gave perspective on disease-modifying agents. “This program was both practical and forward-looking, providing a terrific update on how advances in the science of Alzheimer’s disease can be applied in practice, showing how best to use the currently available medications, and describing advances in the emergence of disease-modifying treatments” noted Dr. Cummings.

Approximately 84% of attendees reported enhanced knowledge of AD and approximately 75% found the information convincing and applicable enough to implement significant changes to their practice in the form of new screening techniques for MCI, changes to treatment protocol, and discussion of new treatment options with patients. Among the more specific topics addressed were new office-based techniques to simplify the detection of cognitive impairment and AD; imaging techniques for diagnosis of dementia and assessment of MCI in the earliest phases of AD; characterization of dementia syndromes using magnetic resonance imaging, FDG positron emission tomography, and amyloid imaging; new treatment targets; and compounds with therapeutic promise, such as anti-amyloid and neuroprotective agents.

Overall, participants gained an improved understanding of how to recognize dementia, diagnose AD, and provide excellent treatment to AD patients and their families, as well as learned about the major areas of research where new treatment advances are anticipated.

This educational event was jointly sponsored by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and MBL Communications, Inc. The ADS proceedings will be available as a CME supplement to CNS Spectrums (http://www.cnsspectrums.com) and Primary Psychiatry (http://www.primarypsychiatry.com) as well as a series of podcasts in October 2008 (http://cmepsychcast.mblcommunications.com). The next ADS will convene in 2009.

This activity was supported in part by educational grants from Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eisai Inc., Medivation, Inc., and Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.